When you consciously practise different kinds of thinking, then gradually your mental creation, your thinking, will become a little less stressful and a lot more relaxing. A little less shallow and a lot deeper. A little less speedy and a lot more like a slow-moving river, gently flowing, sometimes still, sometimes deep, but always moving in the direction you would want it to. Here are the other five practices.
6 THINK CURIOUSLY
Most mental stress disappears when you are genuinely curious about something. When you are genuinely curious you temporarily drop all the preconceived beliefs to which you had become attached. There is a certain freedom in curiosity, alongside a humility of attitude. Where there is freedom and humility there cannot be stress. Try being more curious in all situations and relationships, especially the ones that seem to be the most challenging and see how much it changes your feelings and your interactions with others.
7 THINK DEEPLY
The deeper you think the less ‘anxious’ you will feel about, well, everything! Pick the right people to mix with, people who like to talk of deeper things, people who like to get behind appearances, people who do not just jump to any old conclusion, people who are able to break through surface and tap into depth. Hang out with such people and use such precious relationships to practise deep thinking. You will start to enrich your self from the inside with insights you did not know you had. They will also give you greater mental strength. The kind of strength that cannot be affected by any darkened energy around you.
8 THINK CONCENTRATEDLY
We live in the age of distraction. For many of us concentration is now difficult. We are easily influenced, pulled out of centre and distracted by others. Being surrounded by technology does not help. So, practise restoring your ability to concentrate. Take an idea or an object and hold your attention gently upon it. Emphasis on ‘gently’! If you get distracted come back and start again. With practice you will notice you are able to maintain your focus more easily and sustainably. That ability will serve you in all areas of your life. But try not to be rigid or upset when you lose concentration. Gently.
9 THINK VISUALLY
The mind is like a screen. It is the canvas upon which we create our life before we make our creation visible to others! Unfortunately, our creativity has become heavily influenced by others’ ideas, concepts and images etc. The technological equivalent of the mind is the screen of a TV or computer. Unfortunately, we tend to use our TVs and computer screens to avoid developing our own creativity. It is much easier to let the machines do the creative work for us as they project others’ creativity into our consciousness. Allowing this to happen over time weakens our own capacity to imagine, to envision, to be creative, to generate ‘possibility thinking’. The practice of visualisation is one way to restore and develop your innate, but often dormant, creative capacity.
10 THINK SILENTLY
Once you learn to slow the thoughts that seem to jump into and through your mind you will become aware of a stillness and a silence that sits just behind the screen of your mind. Just as you might walk behind the screen in a cinema, see if you can become aware of what is behind your mind. It is where you are. Except it is not a place, obviously. You will find a silence and a stillness that is quite profound, not to mention powerful. The more you live in that inner space the more it will restore your awareness of your power and the more likely you will generate an authentic passion (enthusiasm) for life itself. It is also entirely free, completely legal and utterly non-fattening!
Mike George is an author of 16 books on self-awareness, spiritual intelligence and personal undevelopment.